Purpose :
Anti TNF-alpha and interferon alpha-2a therapies have been considered for uveitis associated with Behcet disease. The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy of anti TNF-alpha and interferon alpha-2a therapies for patients diagnosed with posterior or panuveitis associated with Behcet disease.

Methods :
This was an observational study including 18 eyes of 11 patients treated with interferon alpha-2a, and 15 eyes of 8 patients treated with anti TNF-alpha. The follow-up time for both groups was 36 months. The primary outcome was time inducing remission. The secondary outcomes included change in visual acuity in logMAR, and change in the vitreous cell and haze. Statistical analysis was done by using Mann Whitney U test. (SPSS 21.0) p-value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.

Results :
The median (min-max) time inducing remission for anti TNF-alpha group was significantly shorter (12.0(6-20) months, p=0.001) compared to interferon alpha-2a group. (18 (11-30) months) There was no statistically significant difference of change in the median (min-max) visual acuity between anti TNF-alpha group (0.22 (0-1.78) logMAR) and interferon alpha-2a group. (0.26(0-2) logMAR, p=0.509) There was no statistically significant difference of change in the median (min-max) vitreous cell between anti TNF-alpha group 1 (0-2) and interferon alpha-2a group. (1.50 (0-3), p=0.307) There was no statistically significant difference of change in the median (min-max) vitreous haze between anti TNF-alpha group (1 (0-2)) and interferon alpha-2a group. (1.50 (0-3), p=0.220)

Conclusions :
Our results disclosed no statistically significant difference between interferon alpha-2a and anti TNF-alpha therapies for efficacy of reducing inflammation and improving visual acuity in patients with posterior or panuveitis associated with Behcet disease. However; time inducing remission for anti TNF-alpha therapy was significantly shorter than interferon alpha-2a therapy. Further observational studies will be needed to compare time for maintaining remission between interferon alpha-2a and anti TNF-alpha therapies for uveitis patients associated with Behcet disease.

This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.